Method and apparatus for radioactive investigation of drill holes



J. NEUFELD March l0, 1942.

s METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RADIOACTIVE INVESTIGATION OF DRILL HOLES Filed June 7, 1939 Patented' Mar. 10, 1942 Nimhy STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RADIO- ACTIVE INVESTIGATION F DRILL HOLES Jacob Neufeld, Tulsa, 0kla.', asslgnor to Well Surveys, Incorporated, Tulsa, Okla., a corporation of Delaware Application June 7, i939, serial No. 277,964

(cl. 25o-83.6)

9 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of geophysical prospecting and more specifically to the art of well-logging, that is the art of determining what materials lie adjacent to the walls of a hole that has been drilled or dug into the earth.

In the industry of extracting oil and other materials from the earths crust one of the major problems is that of determining what lies below the surface of the earth. Every method that can be used in a practical way to give any data whatever as to the sub-surface strata ilnds a ready use in this field. In new areas where wells have not been drilled, methods such as surface geology, seismic prospecting, gravity meter determinations, various forms of electrical surface prospecting andgas or soil analyses, all play important parts. t In areas where wells have been drilled these methods are supplemented by geological studies of samples of the subsurface strata brought to the surface in thel drilling operation, electrical conductivity, re-

sistivity, or inductive capacity determinations made in drill holes, soil and gas analyses of products taken from the drill holes and, according to a copending application of this same inventor, Serial No. 161,350, filed August 27, 1937, and entitled Method and apparatus for radioactive investigation of drillk holes, by the determination of the natural radioactivity of the sub-surface strata traversed by the drill hole. The present application is a continuation-in-part of this copending application.

Such a device serves well for making measurements at isolated points in a` drill holu but is not adapted to make a continuous record indicating the quantity of radiations at every point along the drill hole. To make such a record from dataobtainable by a Geiger-Muller counter it would be necessary either to make numerous stops and to take entirely separate readings at points extremely close together along the drill hole vor to have the detector travel very, very slowly. Either way would be a tedious and very diilicult process.

According to this prior application much valf uable infomation can be obtained about the sub-surface strata which the dril vhole penetrates if a detector of radiations is lowered into the drill hole and -a record made of the radiations Which it detects at various depths therein. Various materials have definitely diilerent degrees of radioactivity and in some places oil itself is directly locatable by its own radioactivity. Furthermore, it has been found that the radiations penetrate the steel casing of a cased drill hole suiliciently to give satisfactory results even in such a drill hole. Thisis particularly important where a hole has been drilled completely through an oil or gas pocket and the pocket sealed oi without being discovered, by the drilling mud. This often happens and it is then de Furthermore, the above method of well surveying is not adapted to give sharp indications of thev exact points at which the formations change. In order to make accurate location of transitions from one`formation to another it wouldbe necessary to make observations at very small intervals of depth. It would be highly impractical to make such closely spaced observations along the Whole depth of a well and hence it would bejnecessary to make one series of observations, calculate the results and then make a second series of closely Lspaced observations Vat each transition point,

According to the present invention this diilicultyvhas been `overcome and a method and apparatus devised which will accurately measure the radioactivity of the structure adjacent a drill hole, rapidly and continuously so that the device can be continuously lowered or raised and the measurements taken efficiently during the movement.

The present invention obviates the inconveniences inherent to the use of a counter and provides a `method for producingv a continuous record in form of a graph indicating the variation in the intensity of the received radiations with respect to the depth at which the radiations are received. This is accomplished by the use of an ionization chamber, which contains a relatively dense .material such as a gas under high magnitude by the strength of the radiations which -impinge upon the ionization chamber. This current is then utilized to form a continuous record which indicates the depth at which the instrument is operating and the strength of the radiations being received in the form of a graph. Thus, the graph indicates a continuous survey of the well and shows sharp breaks where changes in structure occur in the surrounding formations.

A more detailed understanding of this invention may be gained by a study of the following description of its preferred embodiment as i1- lustrated diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is essentially a diagrammatic illustration of the presently preferred embodiment of this invention and Fig. 2 is essentially a vertical sectional view of a high pressure ionization chamber forming a part of the apparatus.

Referring now particularly to the Fig. 1 of the drawing, a drill hole 9 is shown penetrating the formation to be explored. The drill hole may be provided with a tubular metalic casing such as designated by I0. The presence of the metallic casing in the drill hole is not an essential feature of the invention. The casing is merely shown for the purpose of illustrating the conditions under which the method may be practiced and it is understood that the process herein described may be applied in uncased as well ain cased holes.

The exploratory apparatus proper consists of a housing I I which is lowered into the bore hole by means of a cable I2, containing insulated' conductors. The cable has a length somewhat in excess of the length of the hole to be explored and is normally wound on a drum I3 positioned adjacent to the top of the drill hole. The cable may be, unwound from the drum I3 to lower the exploring apparatus into the hole and may be rewound upon -the drum to raise the exploring apparatus. Between the drum I3 and the hole there is a measuring reel I4 which is adjusted to roll on the cable in such a manner that the number of revolutions of the reel corresponds to the amount of cable which has passed up or down in the drill hole. The reel is mounted on a shaft I5, and the motion of the shaft is transmitted through a gear box I6 to another shaft Il which f turns a spool I8 to wind a photographic film I9,

,preferably under pressure of about 300 pounds per square inch. Instead of nitrogen, propane under pressure or carbon disulphide or any other suitable material may be used. Also, the pressure may be varied from around 100 to around 500 pounds per square inch. The compartment 22 contains a battery 25 to apply a voltage to the ionization chamber and an amplifier 2B to amplify the current passing through the ionization chamber. The battery 25 has one of its terminals connected to the cylindrical electrode 23 and the other terminal connected to the input terminal of the amplifier. The central electrode 24 is directly connected to the other input terminal of the amplifier.

'Ihe output'terminals of the D. C. amplifier 26 are connected to the cable I2 which conveys the current from the amplifier to a recording galvan'ometer 21 located at the surface of the earth. The recording galvanometer includes a moving coil 28 connected to the cable and a mirror 29 attached tothe moving coil. The mirror is adapted to reflect a beam of light from a lamp 30 onto the sensitive film I9 to produce (after the film has been developed) a record in form of a well log.

A high pressure ionization chamber embodying the principles of this invention is diagrammatically illustrated in vertical sectional View in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawing. It will be noted that the chamber comprises an outer shell or casing formed of metal that serves Yas one of the electrodes. The casing is substantially cylindrical in shape and is provided with an opening in the top thereof wherein an insulative plug 36 is provided to receive and hold a rod-like electrode 31 which extends axially"within the casing 35 substantially as shown. The interior of the casing 35 is filled with an inert gas, such as nitrogen, propane, carbon disulphide or similar material under a pressure from around to around 5700 pounds per square inch and it will be understood that the insulative plug 35 is fitted to the casing 35 and to the electrode 3'1 in a manner such as to preclude gas'leakage under condition-s of use.

Thel operation of my invention may be described as follows:

Radioactive material in the `rock formations adjacent to the drill hole and `outside the casing I0, produces radiations which consist of all three kinds, alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays. Only the gamma rays, however, are penetrating enough to pass through the casing I0 and be detected in the space inside the casing. On the average there may be one quantum per second of nuclear gamma radiations penetrate the casing II) from every thirty cubic centimeters of rock immediately adjacent thereto. A large fraction of the gamma rays which penetrate the casing I0 pass through the walls of the housing II, and some of these are absorbed in the compressed gas situated between 23 and 24, enabling it to become electrically conducting. Because of the potential applied by battery 25, and the conductivity induced by the radiation, a current is enabled to pass the magnitude of which is directly proportional to the intensity of said radiation.

The above property of a high pressure ionization chamber to produce currentproportional to the intensity of radiation constitutes one of essential characteristics of this method. Whereas the Geiger-Muller counter produces a discontinuous current, andr results are obtained by counting the number of the current pulses, according to the present method a continuous current is produced and its magnitude recorded. This is accomplished by means of a high pressure ionization chamber in which the gas is made so dense by pressure, that it absorbs over a thousand times as much gamma radiation per unit volume as is absorbed by the gas in a Geiger-Muller counter. Consequently the ionization chamber produces a continuous current that varies in proportion to the radiations to which the gas is exposed.

small proportion of the radiations are detected.

tion of the strength of radiation. However, the y essential merit of this method consists in its adaptability for producing a continuous log in place of isolated and individual measurements.

By means of the amplifier 26 the current produced in the ionization chamber is amplified and the output transmitted over the cable l2 to the galvanometer coil 28 by means of the mirror 29 attached thereto and the light source 30, a beam of ligtht is produced the deflection of which is proportional to the intensity of the gamma radiations and in the neighborhood of the housing It at whatever place it is situated in the drill hole.

By means of the winch i3 the housing il and the instruments contained therein may be continuously raised or lowered in the hole. The measuring wheel I4 rolls on the cable l2 and through a gear box I6 connected to the rollers I8 and 20 through the shaft I1 moves the paper i9 an amount proportional to the movement of the housing Il and the instruments therein in the drill hole. By means of the connections just described the light beam originating in 30 is enabled to trace a curve of gamma ray intensity versus depth on the paper I9 for the gamma rays which enter the casing. A further step in the operation consists in using the same method as the above but exchanging the housing Il for another housing having different filtering characteristics. Several such substitutions may be made. ious curves as recorded at a particular depth allow an estimate of the spectral distribution of the gamma rays which entered the drill hole at that depth. Study of the general character of the graph of intensity versus depth enables the radiation, continuously measuring said current ow- Without appreciably altering the potential on the gaseous medium. and continuously recording the measurement.

2. Method of geophysical prospecting that comprises exposing a compressed gaseous medium, within a geological formation, to radiation emanating from said formation; subjecting the medium to a constant electrical potential sufficient to cause a continuous current new proportional to the intensity of said radiation; continuously measuring said current flow without appreciably altering the potential on the gaseous medium; and continuously recording the measurement.

3. Method of geophysical prospecting that comprises exposiig a compressed gaseous me- Comparison of the intensity on the varoperator to quickly locate stratigraphic horizons which differ in any way from the formations adjacent to them. v

It is to be understood that measurements may also be taken by moving the exploring apparatus from the bottom of the hole up tothe surface while making recordings instead of or in addition to making recordings while lowering the exploring apparatus. The records produced in the manner described are preferablymadeon lm which is calibrated longitudinally in accordance with the distance traversed by the exploring housing in the well hole.

Various -modications may be made of apparatus shown in the drawing. Thus instead of known synchronizing mechanism such as the well known Selsyn motors.

I claim:

1. A method of measuring radiation that comprises subjecting a compressed gaseous medium, in the presence of radiation, to a constant elec, trical potential suicient to cause a continuous current ow proportional t`o the intensity of said dium within a geological formation, to radiation emanating from said formation; subjecting the medium-to a constant electrical potential suicient to cause a continuous current flow proportional to the intensity of said radiation; continuously measuring said current flow without appreciably altering the potential on the gaseous medium; and continuously' recording the measurement in correlation with indications of the place of measurement.

4. Method of geophysical prospecting that comprises positioning an envelope containing a compressed gaseous medium within a well bore whereby the medium is exposed to radiation emanating from surrounding geological formations. subjecting the medium to a constant electrical potential sufcient to cause a continuous current liow through said medium proportional to the intensity of said radiation; continuously measuring said current flow without appreciably altering the potential on the gaseous medium; and continuously recording the measurement in correlation with indications of the depth within the well bore at which the measurement was made.

5. A method of measuring radiation that comprises subjecting a gaseous medium at-a pressure of the order of one hundred to five hundred pounds per square inchin the presence of radiation, to a constant electrical potential suicient to cause a continuous current ow proportional to the intensity 0f said radiation, continuously measuring said current flow without appreciably altering the potential on the gaseous medium, and continuously recording the measurement.

6. A method of measuring radiation that comprises subjecting nitrogen at a pressure of the order of one hundred to ve hundred pounds per square inch, in the presence `of radiation, to a constant electrical potential suicient to cause a continuous current flow proportional to the intensity of said radiation, continuously measuring said current ow without appreciably altering the potential on the nitrogen and continuously recording the measurement.

7. Apparatus for measuring radiation that comprises a radiation-transparent envelope, 'a

compressed gaseous medium within said en- ,Y

velope, means for lsubjecting said medium to a constant electrical potential suiicient to cause a continuous current flow proportional to the intensity of radiation inthe vicinity of said envelope, means for continuously measuring said current flow without appreciably altering the potential on the gaseous medium, and means for continuously recording the measurement.

8. Apparatus for geophysical prospecting that transparent to short-wave length radiation emanating from geological formations, compressed nitrogen within said envelope, means for subjecting the compressed nitrogen to a constant .electrical potential sucient to cause a continuous current flow proportional to the intensity of said radiation in the vicinity of said envelope, means for continuously measuring said current flow Without appreciably altering the potential on the compressed nitrogen, and means for continuously recording the measurement.

9. Apparatus for geophysical prospecting that comprises a metallic envelope substantially hundred pounds per square inch within said' transparent to short-wave Ilength radiation 15 comprises a metallic envelope substantiallyv emanating from geological formations nitrogen at a pressure of the order of one hundred to five envelope, lmeans for subjecting the compressed nitrogen to a constant electrical potential suillcient to cause a continuous current now proportional to the intensity or said radiation in the vicinity of said envelope, means for continuously measuring said current now without appreciably altering the potential on the compressed nitrogen, and means for continuously recording the measurement in correlation with indications of the place at which the measurement was made.

JACOB NEUFEID. 

